From Meta in Seattle to Tracksuit in Auckland: Joey's Straight to Residence Story

It's comforting to know there's an individual who knows your case and is dedicated to it. I had a direct line whenever I needed advice or an update.

Joey Lim

Software Engineer @ Tracksuit

Overview

Joey Lim thought she had the application under control. She and her partner had researched everything on Immigration New Zealand's website and prepared most of the paperwork themselves. Then came the review, and the evidence bar turned out to be higher than expected: proving a shared life takes more than photos and a timeline, and a career spent across four countries meant documentation from every one of them.

The move itself was already underway. Born in Singapore, raised in Hong Kong and Taiwan, educated in the UK and Germany, Joey built her software career across three continents, most recently at Meta in Seattle. When Auckland brand tracking company Tracksuit offered her a role, she and her partner went all in: an apartment to wind down, logistics to book, two cats to relocate, all of it committed before any visa decision arrived.

That made the waiting the hardest part. Police certificates, including a famously slow one from Germany, kept the timeline out of their hands for weeks. New Zealand had grown from a someday idea into a serious plan, and the Straight to Residence visa was the way in. It had to work.

Challenge

Police Certificates From Four Countries

Joey's CV spans Singapore, the UK, Germany and the US. That global career came with a cost: police certificates from four countries before the application could even be submitted. Germany's was the slowest, taking two months to arrive by regular post, with no tracking and no updates along the way.

Relationship Evidence That Goes Deeper Than Photos

Joey applied with her partner and assumed photos and a timeline would cover the relationship evidence. Concord's review flagged that Immigration New Zealand expects far more. They rebuilt that section with secondary evidence: a jointly owned car, transfers between each other's bank accounts, the paper trail of a shared life.

A Life Packed Up Before the Decision

Relocating two cats to New Zealand is a long process that has to start months early. So Joey and her partner were paying for pet exports, booking logistics and unwinding their Seattle life while the application was still pending. If the visa fell through, all of that fell through with it.

After Years of Visa Uncertainty

Years on temporary US visas had taught Joey the value of certainty: rules could shift, and travel plans always needed a second thought. She wasn't just after a new job; she wanted a permanent status she could build a life on. That raised the stakes on getting this one right.

The Turning Point: A Referral Through Tracksuit

Joey never had to go looking for Concord. Christine, who had worked at Tracksuit before joining Concord, reached out when word of her offer travelled through the company. She connected her with Kevin, who connected her with Eddie, the adviser who would run her case. Because the introduction came through the company she was about to join, Joey never felt the need to compare providers. The trust arrived with the referral.

Joey and her partner had already prepared most of the application themselves from Immigration New Zealand's website. What Eddie's review added was judgement: the relationship evidence that looked sufficient wasn't, so they strengthened it before submission rather than risk a request for more information later. Joey also had a direct line to Eddie whenever she needed advice or an update.

The application went in once the German police clearance certificate finally arrived. Approval in principle came back within three weeks, so fast it caught Joey off guard. The news reached her and her partner during a weekend trip to Leavenworth in Washington state: pleasantly surprised, relieved, and finally able to enjoy the rest of the trip with peace of mind.

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The Outcome

The eVisa itself arrived in May 2026, within a week of the couple sending their passports to the embassy in Washington DC, far faster than the two to three week wait Joey had braced for after reading stories online.

By June they were in Auckland, cats included. Three weeks into the new role, Joey describes Tracksuit as warm and welcoming and New Zealand as calm and peaceful: the life close to nature, at a gentler pace, that she'd researched so carefully before making the leap.

Home is a complicated word for someone who has lived everywhere from Taipei to Seattle, and with residence secured, there's no rush. For now there are hikes to plan, a car to buy, and a city to slowly make her own.